Primer feeder for hand loading operations

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a small parts feeder designed to supply a shell primer between the thumb and forefinger of the operator from a supply upon the depression of a handle by the little finger of the same hand. The feeder includes a motion multiplying mechanism to actuate an ejector ram which advances the lower most of the stack of hat shaped shotgun shell primers or other small parts to a delivery region. The mechanism includes a restricted passage which allows only one primer in the upright position to be delivered at a time. The feeder includes provision for ejection of inverted primers. The driving mechanism for the ram ejector includes spring means which prevents undue load upon the mechanism in the case of jamming.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,784,057 Tuttle Jan. 8, 1974 PRIMER FEEDER FOR HAND LOADING Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves OPERATIONS Assistant Examiner-Thomas E. Kocovsky Inventor: Louis P. Tuttle, 4544 Hillard Ave.,

La Canada, Calif. 91011 [57] ABSTRACT Disclosed is a small parts feeder designed to supply a [22] Flled' 1972 shell primer between the thumb and forefinger of the [21] Appl. No.: 238,029 operator from a supply upon the depression of a handle by the little finger of the same hand. The feeder [52] U S Cl 221/196 221/274 includes a motion multiplying mechanism to actuate [51] B65h 3/24 an ejector ram which advances'the lower most of the [58] Fieid 268 stack of hat shaped shotgun shell primers or other Z 'i' 5 5 small parts to a delivery region. The mechanism includes a restricted passage which allows only one [56] References Cited primer in the upright position to be delivered at a time. The feeder includes provision for ejection of in- UNITED STATES PATENTS verted primers. The driving mechanism for the ram 3,558,006 1/1971 Redmond 221/274 ejector includes spring means-which prevents undue h d fil i load upon the mechanism in the case of jamming. 1 er 2,59l,501 4/1952 Bodendoerfer 221/274 4 Claims, Drawing Figures 2,351,393 6/1944 Bohlman 221/274 r 24 i z E; i r i l= i .23 I g is 2| t 4 mum] 42 .nl 22 l l Q :2 M 34 l- -l- 1:5,.- 33

n "ll-gym" 7 PATENTED JAN 8 4 SHEET 1 0F 2 FIGG FIG. 5

1 PRIMER FEEDER FOR HAND LOADING OPERATIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For many years there has existed a need for simple manually operated feeding device for shotgun primers used in reloading shotgun shells. This need is also ex tended to other small irregularly shaped parts of a fragile or possible hazardous type such as shotgun primers which contain a small explosive charge. Feed mechanisms for fully automated assembly systems have long been known in the munitions as well as other manufacturing processes, and such systems characteristically include a supply reservoir and delivery tube or channel and a ram or injector mechanism of some type.

For the home loader such automatic mechanisms are of no value and he is usually resigned to the strictly manual handling of parts. Certain semi-automated devices for the entire process of shotgun shell loading have been available but individual feeders allowing the loader to load at his own rate have not been available.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION I have invented a new hand loader employing a base with a pair of upstanding members enclosing the lever mechanism operated by a front extending pedal which drives a ram ejector positioned at the end of a delivery tube for primers. The primers themselves are assymetrical, being hat shaped, and are to be delivered with the brim of the hat down. The body of the loader includes a delivery passage which in its normal position will allow one primer only in the correct position to exit through the passage to an inclined delivery platform.

The delivery passage is defined by two members which are hinged or otherwise separable to allow the release of an inverted part if it should arrive at the delivery region.

Features of this invention include:

I. Devices designed for single hand operation with movement of the pedal to effect delivery of a single part related to the position of an incline platform so that the lower extreme of movement of the operating pedal, the thumb and forefinger of the operator embrace the delivery platform for facile removal of the delivered primer.

2. The mechanism includes a motion multiplier whereby approximately one-half inch of travel of the pedal is sufficient to produce an inch of travel of the ejector ram and delivery of one part.

3. The mechanical drive mechanism includes a spring member between the lever assembly and the ram which will absorb pressure in the event ofjamming of the ram against an improperly positioned primer.

4. Contouring of the delivery passage so that only correctly oriented parts may be delivered.

5. Demountable design of the delivery mechanism opening the passage to allow the ejection of an improperly positioned part without damage to the part or the mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The foregoing and other features of this invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the drawing which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the feeder of this invention;

Lll

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a typical part designed for use with this mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section through the device of FIG. 1 taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG; 4 is enlarged fragmentary front view of the delivery zone of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the delivery zone of FIG. 3 with a part in the process of delivery;

FIG. .6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 5 with one part delivered and next part in position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the ram ejector of the apparatus of this invention associated with a primer.

FIG. 8 is a side elevationalview showing a hand in position to depress the operating lever and receive a part;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view showing the operating lever depressed and a part positioned directly between the thumb and forefinger of the operator; and

I FIG. 10 is a side elevational view showing the release of an improperly positioned part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Now referring to FIG. 1, the feeder of this invention may be seen as including a base 10 supporting a pairof C-shaped upright members 11 and 12 which enclose the operating mechanism of the feeder including an operating lever 13 with its pedal 14. The upright members 11 and 12 support the injector mechanism 15 of the feeder including a pair of plates 16 and 20 which are hinged at the rear and define-a delivery passage 21 for parts to an incline delivery platform 22 positioned above the pedal 14. Secured to the upper plate 20 is the feeder tube 23 unto which parts are deposited. There is a tube extension 24 with an elongated slot 25 or viewing port, the latter of which is to allow the observation of parts and as a signal for refilling. The tube 23 and tube extension 24 have an inside diameter D which is slightly larger than the major dimension of parts to be delivered. I

A typical part handled by this feeder is shown in FIG. 2. It is a hat shaped shotgun shell primer 30 including a body portion 31 and a rim 32. The primers 30 contain an explosive charge used to set off the main charge of the shotgun shell and therefore do exhibit a degree of hazard to the user if improperly handled or subject to jamming. The primers have nominal dimensions I150. .31. inehandllefi.itinshmich m ke thsmsa y grasped and transport between the thumb and forefinger of the operator but unhandy to invert or orient with the hand.

The arrangement of the operating mechanism and the delivery tube suitable for delivering the parts of FIG. 2 is more apparent in FIG. 3 to which reference is now made. 1

The base 10 as is apparent constitutes a mounting surface forv the feeder and acts as a retainer for a main spring 33 which is retained in the recess in the base 10 and in the underside of lever 13, the latter of which is rotatably secured by pin 34 at the rear of the upright members 11 and 12 of which 12 appears in this figure. The lever 13 is also connected to an arm 35 through a pin 36 riding in a slot 40 of the'arm. The arm is rotatably secured to the upright members 1 l and 12 by a pin 41 whereby movement in a generally vertical direction of the lever 13 produces nearly horizontal magnified movement of the end of arm 35. Engaging the opposite end of arm 35 through an opening is an L shaped spring 42 which connects the operating mechanism just described to an ejector ram 43 positioned for horizontal movement in and out of the delivery region 21 of the mechanism The ram 43 rides in a slot in the plate 16 between the platform 22 and the upper plate 20. The delivery tube 23 and its extension 24 are shown in this figure positioned to allow a column of primers to travel under the influence of gravity to the delivery region 21.

As indicated above in connection with FIG. 1, the plates 20 and 16 are hinged at the rear by hinge 44 and retained together by spring assembly 45.

The delivery mecahnism of FIG. 3 as itappears in the front may be seen in FIG. 4 with the front of the ram 43 appearing in the delivery slot 21, positioned to advance a part to the incline portion of delivery platform 22. The front of ram 43 is concave to engage the cylindrical side walls of the part to be delivered and includes an undercut which allows the ram to ride over the edge rim of the part better seen in FIG. 7. The upper plate 20 includes a smaller delivery opening, which will not allow a part to be delivered rim up. This smaller recess 50 is apparent in FIG. 4.

The relationship of these parts is further apparent in FIG. 5 which shows one part 30 in the process of being delivered by the ram 43 ,with the stack of remaining parts, 3021, b, and c remaining in the delivery tube 23 and with the part 30 positioned in the delivery region of plate 20. It is apparent in FIG.'5 that the front of ram 43 engages a major part of the diameter of the part 30 in' delivery and that the undercut therein allows clearance for the rim portion of the part 30. It should be noted that the part 30 being delivered extends upwards into a plate 20 and passes through the restricted opening 50.

It should be noted in FIG. 5 that the height of the injector ram 43 is less than that of the part desired to be ejected so that inthe' ejection process the ram advancing the part under delivery slides under the next following part 30a which is supported by the part 30 under delivery until the part 30 under delivery has reached the passage 50 and at that time the next part 30a is supported bythe upper surface of ram 43. The part 30a slides easily across the upper surface of the injector 43 and the ejector ram 43 having a concave front surface supports the next part 300 around approximately 50 percent of its periphery until the ram is suddenly withdrawn and a part 51 drops vertically into delivery position without tipping. This size and shape relationship of the ram 43 as compared with the part delivered is apparent in FIG. 7. The contouring of the delivery end of ejector ram 43 as matching the cylindrical side wall 31 of the part 30 isapparent. Also the undercut 44 of the ram 43 which allows clearance for the rim 32 of part 30 is clearly visible. Of course, it is recognized that the contour of the delivery and of ram 43 is designed to match that of the part to be delivered and particularly the concave surface 46 insures that a next following part is released and dropped level by simultaneous releasing the rim at all places. A flat ended ram would tend to tip the next following part.

The normal operation of the loader is illustrated in 'FIGS. 8 and 9 which show the feeder in its normal position with ram 43 retracted and lever 13 at its upper most position. The hand of the operator has just touched the pedal 14 which extends slightly outward from the vertical position of the inclined delivery platform 22. By the application of pressure from the little finger the pedal 14 and lever 13 are depressed and the ram 43 advanced while carrying with it part 30 which slides down the inclined platform 22 until it reaches an end stop. When the pedal 14 and lever 13 have reached the bottom end of their travel, the thumb and forefinger of the operator are directly embracing the platform 22 and the part 30. In the drawing F-lG. 9, the operators hand is shown slightly withdrawn from the pedal 14 in order to show the platform 22 and part 30. In normal operation the little finger covers the pedal and the thumb and foreginger will obscure the part 30. Parts are delivered one by one as long as the supply tube 23 and extention tube 24 contains parts. i t

In the event that a partfor some reason becomes jammed or is fed into the supply tubes extention in an inverted position, the operator will note it immediately since depression of the lever 13 results in encountering a degree of resistance. The resistance is yieldable ,due to the flexibility of the spring 42 which will bend under the force of lever 13 and without applying any destructive force to the part. The jammed part is released merely by application of pressure to the supply tube 23 or extension 24 which pivots the upper plate 20 parts carrier thereon backward on its hinge 44 against resistance of spring 45, the jammed part is thereupon released by slight pressure on the pedal 14 and delivered to the forefinger and thumb in the same manner as the correctly positioned part. The part may be inverted manually or discarded as the case may be. In no event will the feeder cause damage to the part or to the feeder itself by improper loading or positioning of parts. I have also found that the forefinger of the hand can apply sufficient force to the tube 23 to tip it backward and release the part without the necessity of the use of the other hand or'visual attention to clearing a part.

The above-described embodiments of this invention are merely descriptive of its principles and are not to be considered limiting. The scope of this invention instead shall be determined from the scope of the following claims, including their equivalents.

What is claimed is: 1. A part feeder for single handed manual operation to deliver a part to the fingers of an operator comprising:

a frame; a delivery platform; lever means pivoted to said frame; a delivery tube for parts which allow the parts to drop one by one by gravity ontosaid delivery platform;

an ejector ram positioned to advance across said platform to eject the lower most part as it emerges from the delivery tube;

said lever means having a portion extending out of said frame for actuation by the little finger of an operators hand when the hand of the operator is positioned generally vertically with the thumb and forefinger uppermost and the little finger lowermost;

said delivery platform including an extended portion for delivery-of the part;

the extended portion of said delivery platform being positioned in a generally vertical direction from said levermeans at a level whereby a part positioned on said platform is located directly between thumb and forefinger of the hand actuating the lever means when said lever means approaches the end of its travel;

wherein said feeder includes a body member overly- 5 ing said delivery platform and defining a generally horizontal passage for the movement of said ejector ram;

said body member comprising first and second body portions enclosing and defining a delivery opening for parts;

resilient means maintaining said first and second body portions in said delivery opening defining position;

said resilient means being deformable responsive to predetermined pressure on said feeder to allow said first and second body portions to be temporarily separable to allow delivery on said delivery platform of an inverted or improperly placed part by normal feeding movement of said injector ram.

2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said body portions is of a height less than that of the normal part to be delivered by said feeder and a delivery orifice is defined by slots in both the lower and upper body portions.

3. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein one of said body portions has an opening defining said delivery orifice insufficient to allow passage of a part in any but the desired position except by separation of said first and second body portions.

4. The combination in accordance with claim 3 including spring connection means coupling said lever means to said ejector ram;

said spring means being distortable in the event said ram encounters an obstruction such as a jammed part to prevent the direct application of lever actuation force to said ram. 

1. A part feeder for single handed manual operation to deliver a part to the fingers of an operator comprising: a frame; a delivery platform; lever means pivoted to said frame; a delivery tube for parts which allow the parts to drop one by one by gravity onto said delivery platform; an ejector ram positioned to advance across said platform to eject the lower most part as it emerges from the delivery tube; said lever means having a portion extending out of said frame for actuation by the little finger of an operator''s hand when the hand of the operator is positioned generally vertically with the thumb and forefinger uppermost and the little finger lowermost; said delivery platform including an extended portion for delivery of the part; the extended portion of said delivery platform being positioned in a generally vertical direction from said lever means at a level whereby a part positioned on said platform is located directly between thumb and forefinger of the hand actuating the lever means when said lever means approaches the end of its travel; wherein said feeder includes a body member overlying said delivery platform and defining a generally horizontal passage for the movement of said ejector ram; said body member comprising first and second body portions enclosing and defining a delivery opening for parts; resilient means maintaining said first and second body portions in said delivery opening defining position; said resilient means being deformable responsive to predetermined pressure on said feeder to allow said first and second body portions to be temporarily separable to allow delivery on said delivery platform of an inverted or improperly placed part by normal feeding movement of said injector ram.
 2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said body portions is of a height less than that of the normal part to be delivered by said feeder and a delivery orifice is defined by slots in both the lower and upper body portions.
 3. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein one of said body portions has an opening defining said delivery orifice insufficient to allow passage of a part in any but the desired position except by separation of said first and second body portions.
 4. The combination in accordance with claim 3 including spring connection means coupling said lever means to said ejector ram; said spring means being distortable in the event Said ram encounters an obstruction such as a jammed part to prevent the direct application of lever actuation force to said ram. 